YouTube remains the most popular video-sharing website in the world. If you want to download videos for offline viewing or archiving, a reliable YouTube video downloader is essential. In this guide, we compile 8 top YouTube video downloaders for Windows to save videos on your PC/laptop quickly with high quality. Provided with our detailed reviews, you can make an informed decision depending on your needs.
OS: Windows 11/10/8/7, MacOS 10.13+
Cisdem Video Converter is a powerful multipurpose program that can download videos from 1000+ video-sharing websites at an ultra fast speed while keeping high quality, including short or long videos.
This excellent YouTube video downloader for Windows can download up to 8K high-definition videos, music, live streams and private content requiring log-in. Its batch-processing feature allows you to grab multiple videos and entire playlists in one click.
Besides downloading YouTube to original MP4 or WebM formats, you can use it to convert the downloaded YouTube videos to other 600+ video&audio formats and devices with its built-in video converter. It also includes some basic editing tools that allow users to modify the video by trimming, cropping, adding watermarks, embedding subtitles, and more.
While Cisdem Video Converter is actually a combination of downloader, converter, BD/DVD ripper and media processing tools, it comes with a simple interface and covers all features in a lifetime license without extra fee.
OS: Windows 10/11, MacOS 10.13+ and Android
As the name manifests, 4K Video Downloader is one of the superior 4K YouTube video downloader for windows 11/10. It can help you to download 4K/8K videos, 3D videos and 360° videos from YouTube and several other mainstream websites with ease.
This video downloader offers a Smart Mode to download videos in one click. Just save your preferable format, quality and subtitle language, then it can download videos immediately upon pasting the video link.
However, the free version is offered with restrictions - it will prompt you to upgrade to its new app ‘Video Downloader Plus’ for premium features like downloading age-restricted videos, in-app YT subscription, unlimited playlists/channels downloads and more.
OS: Windows 10/11 and Mac
Any Video Converter starts out as an excellent converter software, equipped with rich customization features to convert between 200+ video&audio formats and encode DVDs. It also offers a powerful video downloader used to save audio and videos from YouTube and several major sites.
It allows users to convert YouTube video to MP4, WebM, M4A, OPUS, and MP3 format with available resolution and bitrate options. You can use the downloader for free if you don’t require Full HD quality. Plus, it can batch download multiple videos and playlists to save time.
Furthermore, people can make use of the additional functions in other sections to process the downloaded video, like merging/trimming/compressing videos, etc.
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/ 8/10
aTube Catcher is a completely free video downloader for Windows users. It can help you to download YouTube videos in 4K quality and convert video to a dozen of popular formats like MP4, AVI, MOV, MP3, Android devices, etc. And it offers a screen recorder to record video playback if you fail to grab the video.
But it’s not a top option for reasons. It doesn’t show the format of the direct download options, and it can get stuck at 99% and not finish the download. It also uses a lot of CPU power when running.
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10, Mac and Linux
ByClick Downloader is a one-click YouTube video downloader that combines a video converter and downloader for Windows, Mac and Linux. It can save videos from 40+ websites, which is able to download YouTube playlists and channels with subtitles. Similar to other useful YouTube video downloaders for Windows 11/10, it makes a decent work in downloading videos with a handful of output formats and diverse high-quality options.
When you copy the link on YouTube website, a window will pop up for you to choose "Download MP3" or "Download Video". Just choose on the according option and the video link will then show on the App automatically. Besides, it has a built-in search feature, permitting people to find and save videos by name.
OS: Windows 11/10/8/7
Internet Download Manager (IDM) is a unique downloader tool for Windows only. It can download videos from YouTube and other sites via its browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) integration, so you don’t need to copy-n-paste URLs. Just click the download button above the video and IDM will download the video from YouTube to your PC.
This downloader stands out for accelerated download speed due to its innovative dynamic file segmentation tech. It’s an ideal choice if you need a download manager.
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10/11, Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Mac
YTD Video Downloader is a well-known downloader that supports 50+ websites, not just YouTube. It offers a built-in video converter that allows you to convert downloaded YouTube videos to other popular formats like MP4, MOV, AVI and more.
Although it claims to offer a free version, users will have to pay to enjoy most of the features. The free version supports up to 2K resolution and the download speed is really slow (<100kb/s). You need to subscribe to an Ultimate plan to unlock 4x speed and multiple downloads.
OS: Windows 7/8/10, macOS, Linux
If you are looking for a free and simple YouTube video downloader for Windows 11/10, it is recommended to use ClipGrab. It can save clips from several websites including YouTube and Dailymotion. Besides the original format, it offers a few popular formats as the output format, such as MPEG4, WMV, OGG, and MP3.
Plus, this free tool offers an auto-monitoring function that can paste and analyze the link from the clipboard. And it is designed with a built-in search engine, letting users to search for videos from YouTube directly by inputting keywords within the App. It works based on a third-party tool (youtube-dlp). It will prompt you to download the tool when open it the first time.
| Supported Websites | Output Formats | System Stability | Speed | HD Support | Download YouTube Playlist | Batch Download YouTube Videos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cisdem Video Converter | 1000+ | 600+ | High | Excellent | 4K, 8K | Yes | Yes |
| 4K Video Downloader | 20+ | MP4, MKV, MP3, M4A, OGG, etc. | Normal | Average | 4K, 8K | Yes, but limit 10 videos from a playlist | No |
| Any Video Converter | 100+ | 200+ | High | Fast | 4K, 8K | Yes | Yes |
aTube Catcher | 1000+ | Almost all popular formats | Low | Average | 4K, 8K | Yes | Yes |
ByClick Downloader | 40+ | 11 popular formats | Normal | Average | 4K, 8K | Only the paid version can | Yes |
| IDM | Many | MP4 & MKV for YouTube | High | Excellent | 4K, 8K | No | No |
YTD Video Downloader | 60+ | MP3, MP4, WMV, FLV, MOV, 3GP, AVI | High | Slow | 4K, 8K | Yes | Paid-only feature |
| ClipGrab | 5+ | MP4, WMV, OGG, MP3, Original formats | Normal | Slow | 4K | No | No |
If you want to explore more options on the market, consider the following important factors.
From the upper comparison table and the criteria , we conclude that Cisdem Video Converter is an ideal go-to option for Windows users looking for a best YouTube video downloader.
It works roughly in the same way as most downloaders - parsing the URL of the video and then download in the user-selected format. Let’s take this simple yet powerful tool as an example and show you how to batch download YouTube videos and get desired results.
Download and install the Windows version of Cisdem Video Converter on your PC.
Launch it, you will see an interface contained with 5 tabs for different function. Click the third icon to switch to the download interface.
Go to the YouTube site, open any video that you want to save, right-click on it and select “Copy Link Address” to get its URL.
Back to Cisdem program, paste the copied URL into the bottom box, and press "Enter" to analyze the video. You can also click the "+" icon at bottom left corner to input multiple URLs and load them at once.
Once all videos are added, click the “Format” button to choose the video resolution and format you want. The best quality is often selected by default.
Directly click on the “Start” icon in the bottom right corner to download all YouTube videos right away. Can click the “Save to” box to select the download folder.
Post processing note:
It will download YouTube video in original formats, MP4, WebM or MKV. If you want other video/audio formats or ensure compatibility with other devices, you can make it by using its conversion function. To do so, just drag the downloaded videos to the first interface for conversion. Then, click the Format icon to select any format or device preset you want, and edit the encoding parameters if needed. Then click "Start" button to convert videos to any desired format.
While online tools provide a convenient way to download YouTube videos, software-based solutions offer superior advantages. Investing in a reliable desktop downloader software like Cisdem Video Converter ensures an ad-free, secure, and fast experience without quality or file size limits.
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Emily is a girl who loves to review various multimedia software. She enjoys exploring cutting edge technology and writing how-to guides. Hopefully her articles will help you solve your audio, video, DVD and Blu-ray issues.
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Adil Sorddar
I'm impressed with the quality of your blog post. The information provided was well-organized and easy to follow
Bo
The By Click downloader have one more disadventage, which you did not disclose. You can download only first 3 songs for free then you need to buy Premium.